The Flower Girl
by Shufty
Summary: In a Windhelm where the people are as inhospitable and cruel as the weather, the orphan Sophie tries to make the city a little brighter with her flowers. Some days her flowers aren't enough for everyone else, though. A short story from Sophie's POV, of hope in a dark time.
1. Stars and Butterflies

Sophie hadn't sold any flowers that day. She clutched the now-wilting mountain flowers as she curled up around her empty stomach. The colder the weather became, the less people ventured outside. Those few that did walked hurriedly, wanting to get back home as quickly as possible. No one took notice or stopped by the small girl selling flowers. She couldn't blame them, she too would rather be inside.

Looking at the flowers, she wished they could fill her stomach. They were pretty though, and pretty things made her happy. She smiled, even though the flowers were drooping sadly now, some of the petals falling off. Then she spread out the flowers on the ground in front of her, admiring how vibrant the colours seemed in contrast to the white snow and grey stone they lay on.

Then the wind picked up a couple of the flowers, scattering them like butterflies. If she squinted it seemed like it was a brilliant summer's day, the snow making the evening almost as bright as day. She tossed the rest of the flowers to the wind, enjoying the illusion a moment longer.

But the flowers soon vanished from her sight, carried away by the wind or fallen to the ground. The cold was also making itself known, getting worse by the minute as the sun started to set behind Windhelm's walls. It reflected on windows and icicles, and in the last minutes between night and day it seemed like the stars had come down to the ground. Like curious birds or insects, the last sparks of the dying sun twinkled gently from the roofs, seeming as if they had come down to study this strange town of stone where mortals dwelled.

Sophie gazed in wonder at this sight. Like always, she treasured the beauty the world held, she only wished she could share it with someone. Soon, though, the lights disappeared and the stars did not appear again in the sky, for it was cloudy.

Sophie huddled closer to the wall, curling up as much as she could and trying to keep the cold away. It didn't work very well, she had been sitting for too long and was already cold.

She got up then, walking around on the spot and stamping her feet, hoping she could find another place to sleep or there would be no sleeping this night.

Finally, light bloomed in the darkness. Sophie turned around to see the city guards lighting the fires and torches near the inn and the main gate. After they had moved on, Sophie went eagerly toward the bright fire burning outside the inn. There weren't any people around now, this night was unusually cold, so Sophie had the fire to herself.

Just as she was getting comfortable, however, Rolf and his gang came bursting out of the inn, shouting and cursing. Sophie hoped they'd just move on, but they seemed determined to stay where they were, perhaps hoping the innkeeper would hear their insults and threats. She was considering slipping away, but hesitated because they were so close and were bound to see her if she moved.

Then someone noticed her and before she had time to even think about running a rough hand grabbed the back of her dress and lifted her up.

"Hey look wha' I found! A li'l rat hidin' rite here, jus' waitin' ter rob us blind, eh?" A drunken voice yelled triumphantly in her ear. The others jeered and shouted things like "throw it off the walls!" and "better tell Ekda to put some poison out!".

While none of them had ever really hurt her, she had stayed away from them in the past when they had been drunk. So before any of them could do anything, she twisted around and bit the man who was holding her.

She was already running, leaving them confused and shouting ever louder - probably drawing the attention of the city guards.

Her second favourite spot was by the blacksmith's fire. While it was more sheltered, there was less chance of anyone passing by – which meant she could sleep mostly undisturbed, however, people who passed in and out of the inn could sometimes drop her a coin or some food. Her stomach growled, she had not eaten today and a few scraps of bread would have seemed like a feast right now. There was no chance of getting any food now, however – not without stealing and she would not do that.

When Sophie finally arrived to the Blacksmith's, having taken a roundabout way to lose any pursuers, she noticed someone was already there. It was Silda, who was usually benign, but was very reserved and did not like to share. Sophie decided to let her have the fire to herself, since she had after all been there first.

There weren't any other fires close by and if she wanted to go back to her usual place near the East Gate she would have to pass the inn again, or take the long way behind it. Suddenly her legs felt as if they would not bear her a moment longer, the run had taken all the energy she'd had left. Leaning against the wall, she slid down and huddled into a ball.

She was sleeping next to a warm fire, the warmth spread through her limbs. Through a window, dawn was starting to compete with the fire's light. It was time to wake up. She rose, turning away from the fire and walking toward the door. Then she thought she heard someone call her name. Looking around, she saw no one but the fire, crackling merrily. She turned back to the door and opened it.

Bright daylight flooded through, so intense she had to close her eyes. Suddenly she heard the voice from the hissing flames again. This time it told her to wake up.

"But I am awake!" She told the fire. It didn't listen, but continued to whisper and hiss. Sophie was about to turn away again, when she saw the fire was starting to grow. Absurdly, the light seemed to dim and the room darkened and grew colder. The sound from the fire grew louder and louder, until the room seemed to shake and the walls reverberated.

Then she noticed it wasn't the walls that were moving, it was her. In fact there were no walls, just fire, consuming everything in her sight and she felt its burn. Her whole body was burning and she screamed, turning desperately for the door. But she couldn't move, she could just watch as the fire consumed her.

After a long time the fire started to recede. It shrank to a golden glow around two black coals, surrounded by red flames. Sophie opened her eyes.

Eyes like black coals stared at her from a golden face. Red hair fell around the face, not like flames but dark, almost like her own. She knew this person.

Alantar was a high elf, it was about all she knew about him, but he had always been kind to her and polite to everyone else, despite how they treated him. Every time he saw her, he would buy all of her flowers, telling her he needed it for Alchemy, though she didn't know what that meant.

It was usually difficult to discern his expressions, he knew how to hide his feelings when he thought no one was looking. This time, however, the concern on his face was clear. He asked her if she could feel when he held her hands in his. She shook her head.

Alantar seemed to make a decision then.

"I'm taking you home. When you are better you can choose if you want to stay or not, but I will care for you until you are better."

"I can stay with you?"

"…If you want. But we can talk about that later…" Alantar answered somewhat guardedly.

He started badly when Sophie threw her arms around his neck, then relaxed slightly and gathered her up.

"Here, I'll carry you."

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Thank you for reading! I will be writing more of Sophie and Alantar soon (perhaps ^^')


	2. The Adventuring Alchemist

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has faved and reviewed! I think I know where I'm going with this now, so I will be posting the story in shorter chapters and hopefully quite regularly!

* * *

The bed she was lying in was soft and she was covered in something heavy and warm. Sighing contentedly, Sophie burrowed deeper down and did not open her eyes.

It had been quite some time since she'd slept in a real bed, and if this was just a dream she intended to enjoy it. Soon, however, she started to become more awake and, as her head cleared a bit, she realised that this was not a dream. That was when she opened her eyes, wondering where she could be.

A beamed wooden ceiling was just barely visible in the flickering light from a couple of candles. As she looked around, she could discern bookcases stretching all the way up to the ceiling, covering most of the wall-space, all of them full of books. The spots of wall that were not covered by bookcases, were instead full of strange shapes. Trophies, she saw as she looked more closely - the heads of exotic animals, shields, weapons and all kinds of strange things that she had no name for. There were also several large chests and tables, all of them stacked with things; knives, books and bouquets of dried flowers.

As she saw the flowers she smiled, recalling someone who would always buy all her flowers. She was also starting to remember how she had gotten here, because the same person had saved her from freezing to death that cold night. When was it? It seemed like she had been asleep for a long time, that night seemed like the vague memory of a bad dream.

She sighed again, knowing she would probably have to go out in the cold again soon – she did not want to impose on Alantar's hospitality much longer. It was very comfortable and warm here, however. The bed was made up of a thick mattress and she was covered by both blankets and furs – some were large and rough reindeer coats, others were small and soft fox pelts.

Sophie stroked the fox pelt carefully, as if it were on a living animal, wondering at this strange room and the owner of the house she was in. Alantar was seldom seen in Windhelm, he seemed to travel a lot, only coming there for a couple of days every three weeks or so. Apparently he was quite wealthy, owning a whole house alone and perhaps keeping a servant or two as well, but no one knew what he did for a living. All Sophie knew was that he was an alchemist, because he had told her this was the reason he always bought so many flowers from her. Perhaps he was a traveling healer, she mused, wandering around Skyrim and selling potions and caring for the ill.

It seemed more than likely, but she would have to ask him herself. It was time to get up anyway, because she needed to go out and pick more flowers – both to sell and to give to Alantar, because she wanted to repay him some way and flowers was all she had.

Sophie sat up in the bed, only then noticing she was not wearing her own clothes, but a long cotton shirt obviously made for a much larger person – the sleeves had been rolled up, but were still too long for her. As she got down from the bed, she saw that the shirt reached past her knees, making it into a nightgown for her. Looking around, she saw no trace of her old clothes, so she decided to leave the room and look around.

As she was about to leave, however, someone entered the room. He was a large man with red hair and sideburns that gave him a fox-like resemblance. His face, however, had an open and honest expression.

"Oh, you're up." He said, sounding surprised. "You should be lying down still, the Thane said." He added half-heartedly, as if being used to have his words go unheeded.

Sophie looked longingly back at the bed, but replied, "I really must be going, sir. I don't want to cause any trouble."

The man frowned and Sophie thought he was angry, because it made him look very grim. However, he simply knelt down in front of her and said, "You're no trouble, and I think you would make the Thane happy if you stayed. I'm Calder, by the way, the Thane's housecarl. He will be back soon, but if you need anything I'm here."

"Wait, this is Alantar's home? Is he a Thane?" Sophie asked in surprise, thinking of how casually she had talked to him. "And what is a housecarl?"

"Yes, he became a Thane in this hold just a year ago." Calder nodded, then explained, "As a housecarl it is my duty to guard his property and his life, if he chooses to bring me with him, but he seldom does."

"But how can you protect him if you don't go with him? And where does he go when he leaves Windhelm?"

Calder sighed and shook his head in resignation. "The Thane rarely tells me, or anyone else for that matter, where he goes or what he does. I believe he has had some business in Falkreath, however he does seem to travel all over Skyrim. As you can see he's quite the adventurer," He gestured at the wall of trophies, "some of these are even from Cyrodiil and the Summerset Isles."

"He's been to the Summerset Isles? Is that where he's from? I thought they were really far away!"

"It is far," Calder said, "but I don't believe he's been there himself. He told me he came from Cyrodiil, but where he got those artefacts from I do not know. Perhaps he bought them somewhere."

"What if his parents gave them to him? They were elves, weren't they?" Sophie said excitedly.

"Alantar has never spoken to me of them, so I can't be sure."

"It's rather impolite to talk about someone when they're not there." A voice said behind Calder, almost making the otherwise calm man jump. Sophie squeaked, then realised it was Alantar who stood in the door-opening. Neither of them had hear him walk up the stairs.

"My Thane, it is good to see you're back!" Calder said, bowing slightly to hide his face from the sharp black eyes. His ears betrayed him, however, being almost as red as his hair and beard now.

Sophie, suddenly feeling shy and a bit self-consious, stepped behind the big Nord and peered up at Alantar uncertainly. He wore an enigmatic expression and she wasn't sure if he was annoyed or unsettled.

Soon his expression cleared and he looked at Sophie, who shrank back unconsciously. But Alantar just smiled and it was like the sun appearing on a cloudy day.

"Sophie!" He said with a small laugh. "Don't think I'm mad at you! Even if you are out of your bed and gossiping with Calder.

"Here, I have something for you." He continued, reaching into a large paper bag he had been carrying. As Sophie stepped around Calder to have a look, Alantar lifted out a completely new dress and held it out for her.

Sophie walked up to him and touched the fine fabric reverently, awed at the softness of it and admiring the small embroidered flowers at the collar.

"If you're feeling well enough you can try it now, then you can come downstairs and have breakfast with us."

"It's mine?" Sophie asked as Alantar handed her the dress. She held it carefully, trying not to wrinkle the fabric or drag it on the floor.

"Of course," Alantar replied, "If you don't like it we can go and get you another one, I just thought you would like the flowers on it."

"I do! It's the prettiest dress I have ever seen!" She assured him hurriedly. "It's just… you have already helped me so much, I'll never be able to repay you-"

Alantar shook his head then, raising one hand to stop her from continuing. Then he knelt down in front of her, holding one hand over his heart. Serious as ever he said, "I swear to you, anything I give you is yours to keep forever or do as you wish with and I will not expect repayment of any kind."

He reached out and touched her cheek gently, "To see you smile is more than enough."

Then he smiled suddenly, almost mischievously. "There, how was that? Do you accept my gift?"

Sophie smiled too, then hugged him. Alantar was stiff with surprise and Sophie started to draw back, thinking she might have offended him. But he relaxed then and drew her back in a hug of his own. His long red hair tickled her nose. It smelled of poppies.


End file.
